Building a Home Business Curriculum Outline

Connecting and Communicating

Overview/DescriptionBelieve it or not, you are a born negotiator. Every day you deal with people in some way. Basically, negotiation is a means of getting what you want from others. Unfortunately, other people dont always respond in the way that you want them to and your desires may go unfulfilled. Have you ever found yourself in this situation, wondering what went wrong, why your appeal fell by the wayside? Dale Carnegie understood the complexity of human interaction when he said, When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures of emotion.In this course, you will discover methods of emotionally connecting with people in ways that capture their attention and interest in you. You will be introduced to methods of building trust and rapport. You will also have the opportunity to develop critical negotiation skills in communication, such as active listening, reading body language, and applying power words to your conversations. Getting what you want from dealings with others depends on your ability to effectively connect and communicate. This course will lay the foundation for your growth in these areas.

Target Audience

Managers, supervisors, team leaders, and other experienced business professionals

Elements of Marketing Strategy

Overview/DescriptionYou want to develop a powerful, and well-documented marketing strategy in order to get your new product or service approved. This course is designed to give you a strong start in developing your marketing vision, direction, and ultimately a plan. Youll get an overview of the key factors encompassing the broad scope of strategic marketing. Youll be able to discuss cost structures and their influence on your marketing strategy. The impact of product life cycles on your markets is another focus. Methodology to achieve or increase profitability is another featured section of this course. Apply the best thinking and research techniques to the development of a superior market strategy plan to gain the backing you need to be successful.

Target AudienceManagers and technical leaders who have the responsibility for developing a marketing plan.

Expected Duration3.0 hours

Lesson Objectives:

Foundations of Marketing

Recognize the elements of basic marketing terms and concepts to situations and problems in your own organization.

Enhancing Listening Skills

Overview/DescriptionHave you ever been taken by surprise by an unexpected deadline? Have you ever left a meeting unsure about what was decided? Have you ever asked a supervisor for advice, only to later forget what your supervisor told you? You can avoid problems like these by using effective listening skills. Effective listening helps you to know whats going on in your organization, get cooperation from your co-workers, solve problems, and be successful in your work. However, most people dont listen very well. This course will help you to improve your ability to listen to others. You will learn the skills you need to understand what people say, read their unconscious nonverbal messages, and get others to want to listen to you. You also learn how to apply these skills in a variety of business situations such as interviews, business meetings, and negotiations.

Target Audience

People at all levels of an organization. This course is particularly useful to those who need strong listening skills, such as managers and team members, to be effective in the workplace.

Expected Duration

2.0 hours

Objectives:

Lesson Overview

Recognize the benefits of improving personal listening skills.

Listening to Yourself

Identify the best practices for listening to yourself.

Listening to Others

Use strategies to listen effectively to another person in a given scenario.

Match the strategies for effectively listening to others with an example of each.

Handling Emotional Hot Buttons

Use the strategies for effectively handling emotional hot buttons, given a scenario.

Identify strategies for effectively handling emotional hot buttons.

Lesson Overview

Identify the benefits of getting others to listen.

Nonverbal Behaviors that Encourage Listening

Identify nonverbal behaviors that speakers can use to encourage others to listen.

Speaking to Get Others to Listen

Use the guidelines to encourage others to listen in a given scenario.

Identify the guidelines for encouraging others to listen.

Confrontation: Getting Others to Listen

Apply the strategies that encourage others to listen during a confrontation, given a scenario.

Lesson Overview

Identify the benefits of listening effectively in professional situations.

Taking Good Notes

Select the best practices for taking good notes.

Interviewing

Use strategies for listening effectively to a given job candidate during an interview.

Small Group Discussions

Choose examples that appropriately describe the strategies for listening effectively in a small group discussion.

Lectures and Presentations

Select the best practices for listening effectively to lectures and presentations.

Asserting Yourself Professionally

Overview/DescriptionDo you sometimes wonder if your professional style is too passive-hesitant and weak? Or do you find yourself acting too aggressively toward your co-workers or subordinates--too critical and overbearing? Do you wonder if there is another professional style that might be better for you?If you answered yes to any of these questions, its a good time to learn to be an assertive business professional. This course will guide you as you move into a proactive, responsible, professional style. Youll learn methods to help you identify an appropriate assertive style and strategies to prepare you use that style. Youll also learn how to implement the assertive style in your work environment. With the assistance of this course, youll no longer worry about being too passive or too aggressive.

Target Audience

Business professionals, managers, executives, and supervisors

Expected Duration

2.5 hours

Objectives:

Lesson Overview

recognize benefits of learning change strategies for becoming an assertive business professional.

Determining Your Professional Style

identify questions to ask to determine personal professional style.

Achieving Your Assertiveness Goal

match the methods for achieving an assertive professional goal with the corresponding statements.

Modifying Your Professional Style

match the guidelines for modifying his or her personal professional style with the corresponding statements.

Lesson Overview

recognize the value of learning proactive listening strategies.

Becoming an Active Listener

assess an interaction in a business scenario to determine whether someone was successful as an active listener.

Becoming an Effective Listener

assess an interaction in a business scenario to determine whether someone was successful as an effective listener.

Using Questioning Methods

apply the appropriate methods for using assertive questioning in a given business scenario.

Lesson Overview

recognize benefits of using constructive feedback strategies.

Clarifying Your Feedback Strategy

assess an interaction in a business scenario to determine whether someone successfully used the steps to clarify the feedback strategy.

Giving Positive Feedback

assess an interaction in a business scenario to determine whether someone successfully used the steps necessary to give positive feedback.

Providing Constructive Criticism

apply the appropriate methods for providing constructive criticism in a business scenario.

Saying No Responsibly

match guidelines for saying no responsibly with corresponding statements.

E-mail as a Marketing Tool

Overview/DescriptionHow can you find new customers? How can you build stronger relationships with new and existing customers? How can you boost sales of your companys products and services? This course will provide you with useful strategies to help you incorporate electronic mail into your marketing approach. Learn how to communicate effectively with your customers through e-mail. You and your company will benefit from better customer relations and increased sales.

Target AudienceThis course is specifically targeted at individuals who use e-mail for their personal correspondence or while doing their jobs; managers and business leaders who want to maximize business opportunities and strengthen their organization as a whole.

Expected Duration2.0 hours

Lesson Objectives:

Marketing Opportunities with E-mail

Recognize benefits of seizing e-mail marketing opportunities.

Identify techniques for using e-mail as a customer relationship management tool.

Select approaches for networking with e-mail.

Select ways in which e-mail and a companys Web site can be used together to boost marketing results.

Identify steps for conducting market research with e-mail.

E-mail Marketing Basics

Identify the benefits of knowing e-mail marketing basics.

Create an effective e-mail message using principles for writing high-impact e-mail, given a scenario.

Identify methods of soliciting customer feedback with e-mail, using a multiple choice template.

Recognize ordered steps for creating a targeted mailing list.

Determine if steps have been effectively used for creating a targeted mailing list, given a scenario.

E-mail Marketing Applications

Choose the benefits of using e-mail as a corporate marketing tool.

Determine whether steps for developing newsletters have been effectively followed, given a scenario.

Use e-mail effectively to get the most from trade shows, given a scenario.

Effective Telephone Techniques

Overview/DescriptionThis course provides the learner with critical information about making a good impression when communicating over the telephone. It emphasizes the importance of good telephone etiquette, offers tips for building trust over the telephone, and discusses important non-verbal actions that are present in most telephone interactions. Additionally, it helps the learner make the most out of technology when using voicemail, speakerphones, cellular phones, and conference calls.

Target AudienceThis course will benefit business professionals who wish to communicate more effectively over the telephone.

Expected Duration5.0 hours

Lesson Objectives:

Making a Good Impression on the Telephone

Recognize the importance of making a good impression on the telephone.

Identify examples of the principles of non-verbal communication.

Identify examples of the principles of good telephone etiquette.

Use good telephone etiquette in a simulated telephone conversation.

Match the factors that impact image over the telephone with examples.

Recognize examples of techniques used to build a callers trust.

Build a callers trust using appropriate techniques in a simulated conversation.

Making the Most of Telephone Technology

Recognize the importance of telephone technology to the business world.

Identify examples of the principles for effective use of voicemail.

Apply the principles for effective use of voicemail when presented with a scenario.

Identify examples of the rules for speakerphone etiquette.

Use speakerphone etiquette in a simulated meeting scenario.

Select examples of appropriate cellular phone etiquette.

Match the principles for the effective use of conference calls with examples.

Techniques for Improved Time Management

Overview/DescriptionIf you dont feel that you are the organized type, or if making lists or drawing up detailed plans doesnt come naturally, dont worry. There isnt just one way in which time can be managed effectively. This course will introduce you to several different techniques for improving your time-management skills--experiment with them, and then choose and apply the tools which best suit your own situation.In order to achieve anything it is important to establish goals. You need to know what you want to do, before you can decide how and when you are going to do it. You then need to establish deadlines. If these deadlines are unrealistically tight, your interest and commitment in the task may be undermined, or you may experience stress which can have a negative effect on your performance. Deadlines are important, but they have to be realistic.Making To-do lists is a useful technique, but you can end up feeling overwhelmed by the amount that has to be achieved in a day, a week or a month. It is vital to prioritize the tasks, and the Priority Matrix is a quick and effective way of sorting the urgent, from the less important.It is relatively easy to make changes to the way in which you work while you are concentrating on making improvements, but it can be much more difficult to sustain these improvements. Once you have taken better control of the way in which you manage time, you need to find ways of maintaining this control. The final lesson in this course will provide some suggestions as to how this can be done effectively.

Target Audience

Anyone in business who would like to have more time to do the things that they really need or want to do

Expected Duration

2.5 hours

Objectives:

Lesson Overview

identify the benefits of establishing goals and setting priorities.

Setting Realistic Deadlines

identify methods for setting realistic deadlines.

Making Use of Lists

identify which criteria have been applied in examples of to-do lists.

The Priority Matrix

apply the Priority Matrix to a described situation.

Lesson Overview

identify the benefits of using tools for effective time management.

Estimating Time Frames

use the time frames equation to estimate the shortest possible completion time for an activity.

Improving Time Management by Sequencing

apply sequencing to a described situation.

Using Queuing to Improve Time Management

make recommendations for the use of queuing to improve time management in a described situation.

Lesson Overview

recognize the benefits of maintaining control of time.

Making Decisions

apply the PMI technique to make the right decision.

Improving Efficiency

apply methods for improving efficiency and time management in a described situation.

Working for Your Inner Boss: Personal Accountability

Overview/DescriptionMost employees in business organizations must answer to someone else. From the top of the organization chart to the bottom, nearly every manager and employee must look to a supervisor, a director, or even a customer to establish priorities, assign tasks, set deadlines, and evaluate results. Whoever gives this direction is called the boss. On one level, the boss decides how employees will perform their jobs. How well an employee meets requirements set by the boss determines whether that employee succeeds or fails, receives rewards or penalties, and earns praise or criticism. On another level however, the judgment of an external boss isnt enough to make a job personally fulfilling and rewarding. Thats something all employees of an organization decide for themselves. Everyone who works must also answer to an inner boss, a personal, internal voice that provides guidance on whether a job is worth doing and whether it is done well. Accepting personal accountability for your work means your inner boss sets demanding standards and that youre willing to commit to meeting those standards and answer for the results of your work. In this course, youll learn how to listen to your own inner boss, how to identify your internal standards, how to create a plan to meet those standards, and how to apply your inner bosss guidance to gain more control over your work, your goals, and your future.

Target AudienceMembers of business organizations who want to increase their effectiveness at work while exercising more control over their own day-to-day activities and improving their ability to meet long-term personal career goals

Generating Creative and Innovative Ideas

Overview/DescriptionIs creativity within everyones grasp? Are people innately creative, or is this a skill that some learn, and others dont? If you have ever watched children at play, its easy to conclude that all people start at the same level, with the same creative ability. Perhaps they lose their creative toolboxes with the self-consciousness of adolescence, or as other demands compete for attention. Whatever the reason, its important that you regain your ability to be creative and innovative. More and more organizations are turning to in-house human resources as a rich source of ideas in the knowledge economy. Indeed, the well-known mantra: People are our greatest asset has never been so accurate. This course is designed to help you to boost your creative toolbox. You will look at team methods of fostering creativity and innovation in the workplace, such as brainstorming and the Nominal Group Technique. Then you will explore techniques that can be used individually for personal inspiration, including the importance of conflict, and how nature and history can help you in your quest for greater creativity. Finally, you will also consider the importance of keeping grounded and of building on ideas.

Target AudienceAnyone who wants to be more creative and innovative at work. This includes team members and team leaders, and those who have been appointed to roles with responsibility for innovation, such as innovation directors, product development managers, and research and development specialists.

Expected Duration3.5 hours

Lesson Objectives:

Boosting Team Creativity

Recognize the benefits of using team methods to enhance creativity and innovation in the workplace.

Effectively run a hypothetical brainstorming session, to generate creative and innovative ideas.

Sequence the steps of the Nominal Group Technique.

Apply the steps of the Nominal Group Technique to a specified project.

Analyze the success of a given role play situation.

Enhancing Your Creativity

Recognize the benefits of enhancing your creative potential in the workplace.

Classify creative or innovative ideas as being inventions, extensions, or demand-led discoveries.

Distinguish between the target and source domains of specified analogies.

Identify the considerations used to judge the effectiveness of an analogy.

Identify strategies for using conflict to foster greater creativity and innovation in the workplace.

Basic Business Skills to Get You on the Fast Track

Overview/DescriptionEveryone wants to get on the fast track to success. But without basic business skills, you wont even find the on ramp. To get on the fast track, you have to master the basics and build from there. In this course, you will focus on the basic skills of decision making, organization, delegation, and negotiation and learn how to apply these skills in getting onto the fast track. Without these skills or the knowledge of how to use them effectively, youre going nowhere fast.

Building a Home Business

In this economy, there is an increased interest in learning how to start a business. When so many companies have been forced
to cut budgets, benefits, production and staff, many people are finding that their best way to survive this economy is to start
a home business. Wouldn’t it be great to work from home, where you’re the owner, the manager, the leader, the director, the
accountant, the marketer and the boss? A job where you call the shots, you make the decisions and you do it all
in the privacy of your own home?

Starting a business takes a lot of responsibility and it’s challenging, but also very rewarding. This online training course
will teach you how to start a business the right way. Before you can start your own business, there are many things you need to
learn and prepare. To start a home business, you must set goals and understand the basic skills of decision-making, organization,
delegation and implementation. And to thrive and maintain control long after starting a business, you need more in-depth skills,
such as: time management, prioritization, understanding product life-cycles, building trust, win-win negotiations, marketing
strategies and more.

CBT Direct’s online training course in how to start a business is the key to your success in your new role as your own boss
and business owner. Build a strong foundation for your home business – at home – with CBT Direct’s online training course in how
to how to start a home business!

Benefits of CBT Direct’s Online Training Course on How to Start a Business

CBT Direct boasts the most beneficial online training course in how to start a home business on the market. With CBT Direct’s
online training, you have the flexibility to study on your schedule, and with the speed and reliability of the internet, CBT
Direct’s online training course in how to start a business is accessible anywhere you have an internet connection. Convenience
finally costs less with CBT Direct - the most affordable online training solution today.

The unique design of CBT Direct’s online training course emphasizes learner initiative, self-management and experiential
learning. CBT Direct’s online training course design begins with the definition of user-focused performance objectives and
then proceeds to the selection and implementation of instructional strategies and learning activities appropriate for those
objectives. This effective instruction model for CBT Direct’s online training course in how to start a home business ensures
the greatest level of comprehension and retention.

Who Benefits from CBT Direct’s Online Training Course on How to Start a Business

Anyone interested in learning how to start a business and work from home.

What Will Professionals Learn from CBT Direct’s Online Training Course on How to Start a Business?

To be successful in starting a business, you must have superior communication skills and learn how to connect with other people.
This online course will teach you how to present yourself effectively, use clear communication, "appeal" to your audience, become
more intuitive about others and build trust and rapport. Click here to see a detailed curriculum outline.

To start your own business, you will immediately need critical negotiation skills such as active listening, reading body
language and applying power words to your daily conversations. This online training course in how to start a business will make
you an expert in getting what you need from others, in a way that isn't overpowering, obvious or unprofessional.

To help start your own business, we’ll cover some basic, yet important, business skills, to get you on the right track as you
work from home. These basic business skills include professional phone etiquette, time management, becoming more decisive,
getting organized and overcoming the fears of delegation and negotiation. This course will also show you how to assert yourself
professionally and generate more creative and innovative ideas and implement them.

In order to start your own business and get it off the ground, you’ll need a careful marketing strategy. We’ll provide you
with the key elements of a marketing strategy and teach you how to develop your marketing vision toward the right direction and
into a successful marketing plan and eventually, to increased profitability. You’ll also learn that one of your best marketing
tools as you work from home is your email.

CBT Direct’s online training course in how to start a business is the most comprehensive solution to learning how to face the
many challenges ahead in starting a business and reap the benefits of being your own boss!